Chapter 143: The Secret Guard

Adeline’s POV~

"Adeline."

His voice came through low and steady.

"I made it out," I said quietly, keeping my voice low. "I’m sitting at the bridge right now. The old stone one on the east road, right by the river."

"Good," Adrian replied.

"I called Sierra, just like you told me to do," I continued, swallowing hard. "I asked her to go for a walk with me, and she agreed to meet me here. She isn’t here yet, though." I took a shaky breath. "Where are you? Are you coming here to meet me?"

A short, heavy silence stretched across the line. Through the receiver, I thought I heard the faint, subtle sound of boots crunching softly on gravel, or maybe it was just the wind blowing near him.

"Did anyone follow you out of those gates?" Adrian asked sharply.

"I don’t think so," I said, glancing back over my shoulder toward the empty path.

"Keiran tried to stop me from stepping out alone. He stood in the hallway and asked me why I wanted to go out by myself. But the Dowager Luna told him to back off and let me go... so he let me walk out."

"I’m on my way," he said. "Stay where you are."

The line went dead.

I lowered the phone from my ear slowly, staring blankly at the dark, lifeless screen in my palm.

I leaned back against the bench and looked up. I stared at the moon for a long time.

Moon Goddess, if you’re really up there... please tell me what to do. Am I walking into the truth? Or am I walking into a trap?

I thought about the little red light blinking in the lamp. I thought about Gwen’s smile. About Keiran’s fist, clenched tight at his side. About Adrian’s voice saying ’Everyone you think as your saviour is your enemy’.

Who is lying? Who is telling the truth? And why am I the only one who doesn’t know?

My eyes burned, and I blinked hard. A single tear slipped down anyway. I wiped it away with the back of my wrist.

And then... I heard it.

It was soft and faint, the sound of a foot pressing down on dry leaves. It came from somewhere behind the bench, in the dark line of trees.

I held my breath.

The steps of someone who wasn’t trying to hide that they were coming.

Sierra?

Adrian?

Please let it be one of them.

The footsteps stopped right behind me.

~

The Second Throne Estate

The grand, heavy wooden doors of the Second Throne Estate had barely clicked shut behind Adeline when Keiran moved.

He didn’t offer a single word of explanation. He simply turned on his heavy leather heel and strode straight past the Dowager Luna, his boots hitting the polished black marble floor.

His broad jaw was locked so tight the muscle twitched violently, and his dark eyes were fixed dead on the iron door handle.

"Keiran, where are you going?."

He didn’t stop. He didn’t even slow down.

"Keiran!"

His hand was already wrapping around the cold iron handle when he finally froze in place. His broad shoulders rose and fell once with a harsh, ragged breath. Then, he turned around slowly, his dark eyes burning with pure, unchecked fury.

"Luna Gwen," he growled, his voice dangerously low, "what in the absolute hell is wrong with you?"

The Dowager Luna calmly folded her hands in front of her waist, her face an unreadable mask, and said nothing.

"You know for a goddamn fact that it isn’t safe for her out there!" Keiran roared.

"You know she isn’t safe in those dark woods! After every single bloody thing that has happened to her, you just stand there, smile warmly, and let her walk out the front door like it’s a casual Sunday afternoon?!" His voice rose higher with every single syllable.

"She has an ancient curse actively eating her soul alive from the inside out! She has lethal enemies we haven’t even identified yet! And you just looked her in the eye and told her to go enjoy the cool night air?!"

"Yes," the Dowager Luna said smoothly. "I did."

"Why?!"

"Because if you ever want that broken girl to feel safe standing anywhere near you," Gwen said, her tone deceptively soft but carrying a lethal, razor-sharp edge underneath, "you have to actually give her room to breathe."

Keiran stared at the Dowager Luna as if she had suddenly lost her mind.

"She is your mate, Keiran," Gwen went on, stepping closer to him, her eyes locking onto his.

"She is your mate, not your damn prisoner."

"She is my mate!" Keiran took a heavy, aggressive step forward, closing the distance between them. His voice dropped into a rough, terrifying rumble.

"Which means I have every right in the world to step in and stop her if it keeps a blade out of her back! I have every right to keep her as far away as humanly possible from every goddamn wound this cruel world wants to give her!"

"By locking her inside a gold-plated cage?"

"If I have to and if that keeps her breathing, safe and not hurt! Yes!"

"Then you are no better than the monsters who tortured her before she ever reached these gates."

The words hit him like a physical blow straight to the chest.

Keiran flinched, his head snapping back as if she had slapped him across the face.

His massive hands curled into tight, white-knuckle fists at his sides, and for a terrifying second, his dark eyes flashed wild with an instinct to say something cruel and unforgivable.

But the venomous words died right in his throat. The Dowager Luna watched him, and then a small, gentle smile spread across her face, a warm, satisfied smile like she had gotten the exact reaction she was desperately expecting for.

"She is just going out to meet her best friend, Keiran," Gwen murmured softly, her tone dripping with sweet, motherly reassurance. "That is all this is. A simple walk. A breath of fresh air with Sierra."

"And who the hell knows what could be waiting for her on the way there?!" Keiran snapped. "I’m going straight out after her. I won’t stop her from going out. But... just not alone."

"Oh? You mean she’s going out to meet the person you personally hired to be her secret security detail? Her personal bodyguard that she never knew about?"

A smooth, deep, mocking voice floated down from the top of the grand marble staircase.